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Alexander Gogos

Dr.
Alexander Gogos

Abteilung
Verfahrenstechnik

Über mich

Current research

Fate of engineered nanomaterials in managed waste facilitiesManaged waste facilities (“reactors”) act as crucial conduits for engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) prior to release to the environment . Key reactors include wastewater treatment plants, solid waste and dedicated sewage sludge incinerators, and landfills. Within each reactor, ENM can be physically (aggregation) and chemically (speciation) transformed, and the initial coating may be replaced by other substances (‘eco-corona’) or biologically degraded. The physical-chemical properties of the transformed ENMs are however are still very poorly investigated. Thus, the aim of this project is to establish transformation and release rates of ENM during their passage through different reactors.

2015-present PostDoc in the Department of Process Engineering, Eawag, Switzerland

2011-2015 PhD student in Environmental Analytical Chemistry, Agroscope/ETH Zurich, Switzerland Thesis: "Engineered nanomaterials in the agricultural environment: current state of applications and development of analytical methods"

2003-2010 German diploma "Biology", RWTH Aachen, Germany Thesis, conducted at the Soil Protection Group, ETH Zurich : “Application of woolhydrolysate as a biochelator for the biofortification of mineral micronutrients for human nutrition”

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Ausgewählte Publikationen

Sulfidation kinetics of copper oxide nanoparticles

Sulfidation of copper oxide nanoparticles (CuO NPs) in urban wastewater systems is expected to influence their impact on the environment. However, the kinetics of this reaction has not been studied to date and the reaction mechanism remains largely unexplored. We therefore investigated the sulfidation kinetics of CuO NPs reacted with bisulfide (HS−) at concentrations relevant to wastewater systems. Pristine CuO NPs (50 nm, 7.7 μM) were reacted with HS− (26.4–105.6 μM) in oxic solutions buffered to pH 8.0. The reaction progress was monitored using silver nitrate to quench the reaction and selectively dissolve the copper sulfides (Cux) and zincon to spectrophotometrically quantify the released Cu2+. In addition, the reaction products were characterized at selected time points using analytical electron microscopy and X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS). The sulfidation rate of the CuO NPs was best described by a pseudo first order rate law and the corresponding half-life times ranged between 1 and 6 minutes. XAS results showed that crystalline CuO NPs rapidly transformed into amorphous CuxS and gradually into crystalline CuS (covellite). The comparable size of pristine and transformed primary particles, the similar morphology of their aggregates, and the initial formation of CuO–CuxS core–shell structures revealed by analytical electron microscopy suggest that the initial sulfidation occurred via a direct conversion reaction mechanism. Our findings suggest that CuO NPs released from various sources into wastewater will rapidly transform into amorphous CuxS and eventually recrystallize into covellite.

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have numerous exciting potential applications and some that have reached commercialization. As such, quantitative measurements of CNTs in key environmental matrices (water, soil, sediment, and biological tissues) are needed to address concerns about their potential environmental and human health risks and to inform application development. However, standard methods for CNT quantification are not yet available. We systematically and critically review each component of the current methods for CNT quantification including CNT extraction approaches, potential biases, limits of detection, and potential for standardization. This review reveals that many of the techniques with the lowest detection limits require uncommon equipment or expertise, and thus, they are not frequently accessible. Additionally, changes to the CNTs (e.g., agglomeration) after environmental release and matrix effects can cause biases for many of the techniques, and biasing factors vary among the techniques. Five case studies are provided to illustrate how to use this information to inform responses to real-world scenarios such as monitoring potential CNT discharge into a river or ecotoxicity testing by a testing laboratory. Overall, substantial progress has been made in improving CNT quantification during the past ten years, but additional work is needed for standardization, development of extraction techniques from complex matrices, and multimethod comparisons of standard samples to reveal the comparability of techniques.

Analytical detection and quantification of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) in complex matrices such as soils is very challenging. In an initial approach to this task, we identify MWCNTs by making use of their different (e.g., rod-like) shape compared to other (native) soil particles and in particular soot, which is ubiquitously present in soils. A shape factor ρ, determined using asymmetric flow field-flow fractionation coupled to multi-angle light scattering (aF4-MALS), was used to discriminate MWCNTs of different aspect ratios, as well as mixtures of soot and MWCNTs, in pure suspensions. MALS results were additionally confirmed using automated electron microscopy image analysis. We then analyzed different soil types which consistently showed ρ-values that differed from pure MWCNTs. To test the performance of the method for MWCNT detection in such complex matrices, we conducted standard additions of a MWCNT as well as soot to an agricultural soil. Extracts from these MWCNT-spiked soils showed increased ρ-values compared to soot-spiked or native soil. The method detection limit for the MWCNT was 1.6 to 4.0 mg g−1 soil and lies within the range of commonly used black carbon quantification methods, but is much higher than any currently predicted environmental concentration. Additionally, the method is currently limited by a relatively narrow dynamic range of ρ. Despite these limitations, our results suggest that aF4-MALS provides specific shape information that may be linked to an actual MWCNT presence in soils. Further method improvement potential is outlined along different steps of the workflow.